Eagles run defense has to be tough against Redskins

LANDOVER, Md. – Only three teams gave up more points last season than the Eagles, who surrendered 27.7 per game.

The Eagles ranked 15th in yards allowed at 343.2 per game.

The good news is the Eagles made six changes in their starting lineup, changed coordinators and tore up the old scheme.

Linebacker Connor Barwin, the centerpiece of the changes, believes the Eagles have the elements in place to be a top-10 defense. The explanation was interesting in that Barwin factored in more than the defense that’s transitioning from a 4-3 alignment to a 3-4 with three linemen.

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“I think we’ve got a great offense. That helps,” Barwin said. “We’ve got great special teams, which you need. I think we’ve got a great system that’s evolving and that’s going to come into place and I think we’ve got the players to do it. Guys need to step up. The leaders need to step up and make plays. And if we do that I think being a top-10 defense is something we’re going to do this year.”

The Eagles obviously have to make Skins quarterback Robert Griffin III uncomfortable in the opener tonight.

But before the Birds can even think about dealing with RGIII’s naked bootlegs they have to slow down Alfred Morris, the 219-pound back who rushed for 1,613 yards and 13 touchdowns last season.

Stopping Alfred Morris first is the key, and the naked boots come after that.

“What we really need to focus on early on is stopping the run,” Barwin said. “They’re not going to leave RGIII out there exposed to get hit. I’m sure they’re going to give the ball to their leading rusher from last year and see what he can do. And that will be our job to stop him.”

The not so good news for the Eagles is their defense needs to improve merely to be a work in progress.

The moving parts, the scheme and the communication are nowhere near what defensive coordinator Billy Davis wants.

“Hopefully we’ll come out Monday night and play to the techniques that we have worked the whole offseason on,” Davis said. “No matter what I wish for or what I want, doesn’t matter. The game will show us who we are.”

Griffin, by the way, wonders how the Eagles will defend him.

There’s almost no footage of what the rebuilt defense will do.

“It is hard to study,” Griffin said. “You can’t go off of four preseason games. We know we’ve got to go out and execute whatever our game plan is and be able to adjust on the fly. That’s one benefit of having a new coach and not really having anything on tape. We realize that so it’s not going to catch us off guard if we see something that we didn’t see on tape.”

One thing RGIII expects to do more of this season is getting down and avoiding unnecessary hits.

The inference is he tried to do too much resulting in a knee injury last year.

“It’s not something that you just want to harp on but it has been something I’ve heard for the past eight months about sliding and getting out of bounds,” Griffin said. “So that’s something that I’m going to do. I mean it’s just a part of playing football. You live and you learn. The thing for me now when I go out there is to make sure I play every down and play every game because my teammates need me out there. They don’t need me to get an extra two yards on third-and-seven.”

Eagles quarterback Michael Vick also has said he intends to play safer.

Vick likes the idea of a moving pocket because he feels he’s been hurt more in the traditional pocket.

“I plan on playing 16 games this year,” Vick said. “Things happen but hopefully this year will be my year when I can be out there with my teammates for all 16 games and just enjoy the season, try to make the most out of it.”